Paul O'Grady, the new daytime ITV host better known as Lily Savage, has achieved his best ratings so far, beating Richard and Judy on Channel 4 by 400,000 viewers.

Nearly three weeks into its run, the 5pm Paul O'Grady Show attracted 2.2 million viewers and a 16% audience share for ITV yesterday. Meanwhile, talk show veterans Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan pulled in 1.8 million viewers, according to unofficial overnights.

It is the second time this week that O'Grady has beaten Richard and Judy, much to the delight of the presenter, who launched a war of words against the Channel 4 show, accusing it of trying to ban guests from appearing on his show.

Later in the eveing, ITV benefited from the enduring popularity of James Bond - the terrestrial premiere of the latest Pierce Brosnan Bond film, Die Another Day, attracted nearly 8 million viewers.

The film, which co-starred Halle Berry, was watched by 7.9 million viewers and attracted a 33% audience share between 9pm and 10.30pm.

After ITV's 10.30pm news, the Bond movie concluded with 5.6 million viewers - a 46% audience share - between 11pm and 12.05pm.

Die Another Day put a dent in the hitherto solid figures for Alan Titchmarsh's British Isles: a Natural History on BBC1, which lost 1.1 million viewers compared with the previous Wednesday.

Last night's British Isles had 5.2 million viewers and a 21% audience share.

BBC2's Strictly Come Dancing spin-off has yet to find its feet in the early evening schedule, attracting 1.4 million viewers and a 7% audience share between 6.30pm and 7pm.

Strictly Come Dancing - It Takes Two, which launched on Monday, was up against Hollyoaks on Channel 4, which attracted 2 million viewers, and Five's Family Affairs, which had 1.3 million.

On BBC1 in the same slot, regional news shows around the country attracted 6.1 million viewers, while ITV1's national news was watched by 5.2 million.